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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

BLOOMING IN THE NEW YEAR

This is a photo of my first Heavenly Blue bloom taken on September 28th...only three short months ago. I had dutifully planted my morning glories in late May, expecting that, as usual, I would be rewarded with their company by mid August.

When that didn't happen, I continued to water, wait and witness daily in an effort to create what I desired. Most days it seemed like it wasn't going to happen before we got hit with a frost that would nix the tender annual, but I kept doing my small part and asking Mother Nature to do her larger one.

This is a great example of how it can feel as we continue to show up on our yoga mat: When is my back going to stop hurting? When am I going to be more peaceful? When is my life going to blossom? When is Yoga going to do it's part?

2011 has been a challenging year, but if nothing else it has acclimated us to the fact that change is inevitable. So the question becomes how do we create and shape change when we can, and how do we navigate it when we cannot. Answers to this type of question are personal and require an introspection and space that we also ask our yoga practice to provide.

I believe that with each New Year we are whole-heartedly invited to get creative, ambitious and optimistic about the parts of our lives that can bear fruit....even if we don't see any blossoms right now.

If you have twenty minutes over this holiday week to revisit Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk entitled "A New Way to Think About Creativity" just click on the link below. I think it will be well spent.

Gilbert reminds us that as we attempt to create....our art, our lives, and even our humble yoga practice....we are well advised to separate the ego from the act, and just keep showing up. We might be pleased, or not so pleased, at any given moment...but we will have the knowledge that we are alive in it, and it is only from that place of engagement that blooming can occur.